Imagining a riverfront for all Memphians
Memphis is a river city. The city grew from the river and sits at the most magnificent location on America’s most magnificent river. But currently our riverfront doesn’t live up to the power of the Mississippi at Memphis.
Across the country, cities have leveraged their natural assets to drive tourism, yes, but also to benefit longtime residents. We’re living in a talent-based economy. More than half of a city’s economic success can be predicted by the education level of its residents. Cities must build up its local talent pool with smart investments in education. But once they are educated, we want to keep our graduates in Memphis. And we want to attract graduates from elsewhere.
Given that more than two-thirds of graduates first choose where they want to live then look for a job, cities must develop the types of places that people want to live. That’s a win-win; residents and newcomers, graduates and non-graduates alike enjoy those benefits, as long as they are accessible and welcoming to everyone.
Riverfront investments in places like Chicago, Chattanooga, Philadelphia and San Antonio have helped those cities attract and retain talent and fuel economic growth, increase social capital, advance public health and restore and support the natural environment.
We’re behind, but we start with one great advantage that very few other cities have: We own our riverfront. Most other cities must spend years acquiring property and remediating the effects of industrial uses before they can invest in their riverfront. We can start today.
Momentum is growing. In 2016, Memphis was selected as one of only five cities nationally to participate in Reimagining the Civic Commons, an initiative funded by Kresge, Knight, JPB and Rockefeller foundations. The initiative focuses on the Fourth Bluff, a longneglected part of the riverfront adjacent to the heart of downtown that includes Memphis Park, Mississippi River Park and the historic Cossitt Library.
In 2017, Mayor Strickland’s riverfront task force engaged internationally-recognized architecture firm Studio Gang to develop the Memphis Riverfront Concept. The concept envisions a series of small, elegant, connected moves that, together, create outsized impact. The concept was constructed with ideas from more than 4,000 Memphians from every ZIP code in Shelby County, demonstrating the passion we feel for our riverfront.
This year, the Memphis River Parks Partnership was formed with a mandate to advance the concept. An active and engaged board guides the work of a reinvigorated staff. The city formally extended its management agreement with the partnership to 13 years, with another 10-year renewal, signifying the longterm commitment we must make to get this job done.
The mayor and city council will continue to review and set the contract amount each year, which has remained flat at $2.97 million since 2014. This accounts for about 40 percent of the partnership’s budget with more than $4 million of earned revenue generated each year from special events and rentals, boat dockings, grants and donations. All city funding is used directly for maintenance and operations of the city’s riverfront assets. The partnership has maintained the riverfront at the same cost to the city as the city was spending two decades ago.
The recent addition of the riverfront to the list of approved uses for TDZ (tourist development zone) funding will help to accelerate the future. The TDZ allows Memphis to keep state sales taxes generated in a limited downtown “zone” for an approved set of uses.
The idea behind the TDZ is to avoid dipping into the city’s general fund (which pays for police, fire and other services), but to use new or incremental state sales taxes to invest in projects that will generate even more state and local sales tax revenue. The riverfront is clearly one of those projects.
The riverfront belongs to all Memphians equally, and investing in it will bring benefits to the entire city. The riverfront signals the ambition of the city. It’s about time that it matched the ambitions that we hold for ourselves and our city.
Carol Coletta is president of Memphis River Parks Partnership.